每日英語 #138: Travel Agency

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Travel Agency

When booking a tour, it’s important to make sure the “travel agency” (the company that creates and leads the tour) is a “reputable” (with a good reputation) business. You can do this by reading about its services, speaking with people who have used its services in the past, and contacting the “Better Business Bureau” (a government agency that keeps track of complaints about businesses and their services).

當預訂旅行團時，重要的是確保旅行社（創建並帶領旅行的公司）是有良好聲譽的（有好評價）。你可以通過閱讀其服務評論、與之前使用過其服務的人交談，以及聯繫“商業改進局”（一個監控企業服務投訴的政府機構）來做到這一點。

Once you have found a reputable travel agency, research the types of tours it offers. Does it offer tours to the places you’re most interested in? Do those tours focus on historical information, cultural information, “extreme sports” (dangerous but fun physical games), or other things that you’re interested in? How often are the tours offered, and are those times “compatible with” (working well with; in alignment with) your “itinerary” (travel plans and schedule)? You’ll also want to know whether the tours are “within your budget” (not costing more than the amount of money one has available for a specific purpose).

當你找到一家有良好聲譽的旅行社後，研究它提供的旅行類型。它是否提供你最感興趣的地點旅行？這些旅行是否注重歷史信息、文化信息，或是“極限運動”（危險但有趣的體育活動）等你感興趣的內容？旅行的頻率如何？這些時間是否“符合”（與……一致）你的“行程”（旅行計劃和時間表）？你還需要了解這些旅行是否在你的“預算”範圍內（不超過你為特定目的預留的金額）。

If you have any “special needs” (requirements that most people don’t have), such as “food restrictions” (limitations on the kinds of food one can eat) or “disabilities” (things that one’s body cannot do), can the travel agency accommodate those needs? Other factors to consider include the tour guide’s experience and “depth of knowledge” (how much someone knows about something). The “tour group” (the people who participate in a tour) is important, too. Is there a minimum and maximum number of participants? Are there age restrictions? You might not want to be the youngest or oldest person in the tour group, so find out all you can about the other participants.

如果你有任何“特殊需求”（大多數人沒有的要求），如“飲食限制”（對可食用食物種類的限制）或“殘疾”（身體無法完成的事情），該旅行社能否滿足這些需求？其他需要考慮的因素還包括導遊的經驗和“知識深度”（某人對某事的了解程度）。旅行團（參加旅行的人們）也很重要。有沒有參加人數的最小或最大限制？是否有年齡限制？你可能不希望自己是團體中最年輕或最年長的人，因此了解其他參加者的情況非常有幫助。

重要單字

• 1. Travel agency /ˈtræv.əl ˈeɪ.dʒən.si/ 旅行社
• 2. Reputable /ˈrɛp.jə.tə.bəl/ 有聲譽的
• 3. Better Business Bureau /ˈbɛt.ər ˈbɪz.nɪs ˈbjʊə.roʊ/ 商業改進局
• 4. Itinerary /aɪˈtɪn.ə.rer.i/ 行程表
• 5. Budget /ˈbʌdʒ.ɪt/ 預算
• 6. Special needs /ˈspɛʃ.əl niːdz/ 特殊需求
• 7. Food restrictions /fuːd rɪˈstrɪk.ʃənz/ 飲食限制
• 8. Disability /ˌdɪs.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ 殘疾
• 9. Depth of knowledge /dɛpθ ʌv ˈnɒl.ɪdʒ/ 知識深度
• 10. Tour group /tʊər ɡruːp/ 旅行團